Wednesday, August 24, 2011

We're Not Gonna Take It

So it's another school year again. My 21st in the classroom. Anyone out there in my shoes? Let me ask you a question: Do you think it gets harder every year?

I am so frustrated right now. I'm frustrated by the administration. I don't understand why I am given a daily schedule that tells me when to do everything. I am a professional, correct? Can I not schedule my day in a way that is effective and efficient for the students without the dictates of the office? Apparently not.

For example, why do we have to schedule a block in our day called "Intervention/Enrichment?" Isn't that what we are supposed to do in every subject area at all times of the day? What is the purpose of guided reading groups if we aren't intervening and bringing children up to grade level with their reading? What is the purpose of individual writing conferences? Isn't that when we are supposed to be enriching the skills of the gifted writers in our care? I just don't get it. I work my ass off day in and day out year after year, and every year more is demanded. When I student taught, my cooperating teachers told me "The first year is the hardest. It gets easier after that." But that isn't what has happened. More freedom is taken away from the professional teacher every year. And what is the result?

Here is the result: angry teachers. However, we are professionals. So like the professionals we are, we will do our jobs, love the children, and put on smiling faces. And maybe that is why it gets harder every year. Because we never stand up and say "We're not gonna take it." We love teaching children, and because of that one little fact, we put up with a hell of a lot of crap.